A Run for the Money

Trimline Security Glass

In 2005, the Canadian agency Rethink came up with a low-budget promotion for security glass for a Vancouver manufacturer. For about $6,000 Canadian, Rethink built a glass-walled bus shelter — and stuffed the space between the shatter-proof panes with what looked like $3 million Canadian. (The cash was mostly counterfeit, with 500 real dollars on top to provide authenticity. The first day the "ad" appeared, it garnered a front-page story in The Vancouver Sun, which described passersby punching and kicking the shelter in an effort to get the money. Video of these attempts wound up on local and network news—generating widespread buzz for a business that wasn't a big brand.